Le Macfarlane ‘Bros’: The Hottt Movie Star of the Year Is a Gay Man. Fally!

Contents:

• ‘BROS’ REVIEW: BILLY EICHNER’S SELF-DEPRETG GAY ROM-COM LETS EVERYONE IN ON THE JOKE
• COMMENTARY: THE REAL LSON OF ‘BROS’: IT’S OK TO LET GAY ART BOMB
• LE MACFARLANE ‘BROS’: THE HOTTT MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR IS A GAY MAN. FALLY!

‘BROS’ REVIEW: BILLY EICHNER’S SELF-DEPRETG GAY ROM-COM LETS EVERYONE IN ON THE JOKE

Sure, ’s a well-budgeted, wi-release, R-rated gay rom-, and that’s historic (if you put enough qualifyg adjectiv ont of ), but one of those had to e along sooner or later. Oddly, feels like there already have been others, and there’s no qutn more are g, nsirg how hard Hollywood has been workg to clu gay characters.

The difference what we’ll ll “Billy Eichner’s Hollywood Screen Kiss” is that centers a gay character, stead of jt g him as sassy ic support. Eichner plays podster Bobby Leiber, who, the send scene, accepts somethg lled the Cis Whe Gay Man of the Year Award, an acknowledgement that even the realm of mori, he’s somethg of a privileged class. That uncertaty is perhaps the most thentic thg about “Bros” (gay or straight, men are famoly mment-averse); ed, this element uld be what -wrer and director Nicholas Stoller brgs to the equatn, nsirg how astutely he examed that aspect of morn datg “The Five-Year Engagement.

This is the terrory where “Bros” breaks new ground, sce the “l” of gay rom-s have yet to be dified: like whether havg someone’s undivid attentn is a turn-off or a good thg, and what each character needs to feel appreciated and adored. There, surround by a sea of shirtls men, the two bond over their mutual belief that “gay guys are so stupid, ” which feels like a b om Eichner’s “Difficult People” seri.

COMMENTARY: THE REAL LSON OF ‘BROS’: IT’S OK TO LET GAY ART BOMB

But what do such a judgment mean to Bobby and Aaron, who aren’t shown readg books or discsg polics — unls you unt talkg about the gay experience, which is pretty much all Bobby do. There are plenty of dienc out there who’ve been wag their entire liv for Hollywood to greenlight a mastream gay movie (and sure, we’ll pretend that all the queer-iendly ntent on HBO and Netflix don’t unt, that “The Birdge” and “In & Out” never happened, that John Waters is too cult and “Moonlight” too margal). “Straight people love seeg miserable, ” Bobby observ at one pot, and though Eichner giv the gays a happy endg and lots of lghs along the way, damned if he don’t seem miserable for most of the movie.

It’s not some die or “some streamg thg which feels disposable, ” as he said to Variety, words he then clarified after they were terpreted as a slight agast fellow gay rom- Fire Island, which premiered on Hulu June. Also, ’s about 40-year-olds who fuck, not a g-out story about someone fumblg their first kiss, like roughly 90 percent of gay stori onscreen are, he clared to GQ.

LE MACFARLANE ‘BROS’: THE HOTTT MOVIE STAR OF THE YEAR IS A GAY MAN. FALLY!

Eichner has done so much work to load down Bros wh qualified historil signifince, and to sist that ’s not like those other gay movi, that ’s a pleasant surprise to fally watch the thg and fd to be sexy, msy, and joyful, and rmed ls by a sense of s own importance than by a vague uncertaty that may have arrived too late to the party.

It is, after all, a eful o to a whe masc-centric gay culture that the movie unrstands to be passé and exclnary even as has been s protagonist’s whole world.

In that, as well as an appearance om Bowen Yang, has somethg mon wh Fire Island — the btersweet love story at s re is ls wh a person than wh the ia of gay muny, which s ma characters value even as they feel nsigned to s outskirts. Still, Bobby’s the newly appoted director of the first-ever LGBTQ mm, and the movie tak pas to tablish him as the host of a succsful gay-history podst first, maly to give him an exce for a disgted monologue to the mic about how he was approached by a Hollywood producer to wre the kd of gay romantic-edy “a straight guy might watch wh his girliend. Aaron — whose tradnal masculy his some ternalized homophobia — reprents so much that loud, ant, nve-chted Bobby has rented and yet wants, and the film n’t que square his ristance wh his sire.

When Bros begs, ’s hard to image how a plsible romance is gog to stggle out om everythg the movie feels mt reprent wh regard to bigotry, sirabily, beg visibly gay, and havg relatnships that don’t feel beholn to heteronormative ials.

Bros may not technilly be Hollywood's first gay love story — films like Makg Love, Jefey and Fire Island all prece — but 's fely Hollywood's rnchit gay love story. Capturg that aspect of ntemporary LGBTQ life is somethg that was important for the film's out gay stars, and sets Bros apart om the typil Apatow/Stoller jot, where the central uple tends to be monogamo.

(Photo: ©Universal/Courty Everett Collectn)Those scen were also an tn for Stoller, who ps to beg a straight director helmg a gay rom-.

The film is already gettg review bombed on IMDB by homophobic viewers, many of whom haven't even seen the movie, leadg Eichner to rpond on social how he feels about the possibily that ter trolls might claim that he's "rptg" Ameri's youth, Eichner says that ship has long sce sailed. (Photo: ©Universal/Courty Everett Collectn)Even as Bros reprents a breakthrough for gay storytellg at the major stud level, Eichner regniz that the muny he's a part of is far more diverse than the whe uple at the heart of the film. Jon and Ldley both cred Glee wh beg one of the first mastream entertaments to expose dienc to the different lors that make up the famo gay pri rabow flag.